(annual: October 1st through September 30th)
Go to the "Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget" and look in Section 2 to help you answer the questions below.
Revenues
1. List the sources of income for the government and the approximate percentages. (see Chart 2-3)
2. How much revenue, in billions of dollars, did the government generate in the current year? (see Table 2-1)
3. Which tax category has increased the most during the past few decades? (see Chart 2-4)
Expenditures
4. How much did the government spend in billions of dollars in the current year? (see Table 2-2).
5. Where does the government spend our money? Use Chart 2-6.
6. List some of the areas that are funded as part of the non-defense discretionary spending (see Table 2-4).
Budget Process
7. Did the budget have a deficit or a surplus last year? How much of a difference?
8. Which areas do you think might be easier to cut funding to than others? (Hint: think about your own expenses.)
Sources of Information
9. Why might you come to this web site in the future? What information might you be looking for?
10. What other government site(s) might contain revenue information?